Tuesday, July 22, 2008

And you may ask yourself...

Another milestone in my life is approaching and is looming over me like some megalith at Stonehenge. I admit, I'm having trouble with this one (psst - my birthday). I suppose it started a few years ago when I had to admit that I don't remember things as sharply as I once did, that I have more gray hairs than I can count, and that my body is already showing signs of breakdown. OK, maybe I'm being a little dramatic. I still get complimented that I look (and probably act) younger than I am. Most times, though, I'm told that I look tired - a.k.a., the polite way of saying I look like crap. I now relate more to the geriatric population than to the gen-Yer's. Still, it's been a great ride so far.

I think about the Talking Heads' song "Once in a Lifetime" and think, well, "how did I get here?" A birthday is as good of a time as any to take inventory on that wild roadtrip to see where I've been:

- 12 sheltered years of Catholic schooling

- 1 foreign exchange student

- 1 death in immediate family

- 4 years as a conservative at one of the most liberal colleges

- 7 beautiful countries visited outside of the US

- 1 major car wreck

- 1 minor back surgery

- 1 wonderful wedding to one extraordinary man

- 4 residences that I've called "home"

- 3 companies where I've worked since college

- 6 people that I would trust with my life

- 1,576 songs currently on my ipod

- 1 movie seen in the theatre in the last year

- 0 casts worn for broken bones

- countless friends lost, found and made

Probably more than you need to, or care to, know, but there it is. Of course, there's much more to this ever-evolving story. It's interesting to reflect on how things have changed, how the world has changed, how I have changed...and will continue to change. I ask "where does that highway go to?" It is stretched out far ahead of me and I'm looking forward to the next lag of this roadtrip.